Valentine's Day stuff

For the first time ever, I'm on top of my crafting more than a week before the actual holiday!  Amazing!

I bought the Farbenmix Redondo skirt pattern a couple months ago and have been dying to try it out.  I'd originally planned on making E another broomstick-style Valentine's skirt, but then I figured why not give the new pattern a try?

Here it is, spread out in all its twirly glory:

I have to say, I have totally fallen in love with this pattern and cannot wait to make more. It's one of those patterns that looks like it was super complicated to make when actually it was quite simple.  I did make a couple small deviations from the original pattern though.  The original calls for you to cut out 5 panels.  Well, I wanted to alternate two different fabrics and did not want to have two of the same next to one another, so I decided to add one more panel. To try and compensate for the width of the extra panel, I left out the seam allowance (which was not included anyways) when I cut all the pieces.  I will say, cutting the spirals was a bit of a pain - easily the most difficult part - because you cannot fold your fabric over and cut two at a time.  I also ended up extending the waistband piece to accommodate the extra panel.  It's probably a tad big in the waist, but I figure no one will see that part anyway since it will be hidden under a shirt.

To match, the skirt, I made a shirt with a simple reverse applique heart.

And because I've been on a flower-making spree lately, a matching hair clip:

E was pretty excited about the outfit, especially the skirt.  Something about twirly skirts always appeals to little girls. ;)

 

Next time, I think I'm going to try and make it as directed, with the five panels, but I'm going to try and add another flounce to each panel, as described in this variation from the Farbenmix website.

 

Last, but not least, I also whipped up this Valentine's Day advent-style countdown calendar, from this tutorial.  E was super disappointed that we didn't get to do her Christmas advent this year since we were out of town so much, so I thought this would be a nice surprise for her.  Can't wait to give it to her on Tuesday!

Holiday Sewing

Every year, I set lofty goals about all the handmade gifts I'm going to make for Christmas.  And every year, I start waaaayyy too late to get more than one or two done in time.  This year really wasn't all that different, but I somehow managed to crank out quite a few sewn gifts this year. Fourteen, to be exact.  Most of these were not exactly what I had planned, but that's besides the point.

In a vain attempt to give me a reason to use up my giant fabric stash, I've been on a bit of a pattern-buying spree the last few months.  I decided to use some of my more recent purchases from Bit Of Whimsy to make gifts for some of E's little friends.  As a side note, I love her patterns.  They are relatively inexpensive, very straight-forward and easy enough for beginners. 

Her newest pattern line is called Wittle Whimsys and they are small stuffed animals.  Super adorable.  I bought the elephant/mouse set and decided to make most of the younger kids I know. 

I used this as an opportunity to knock down some of my unnecessarily huge stash of flannel (from when I WAY overbought at a Black Friday sale several years ago).  Their arms and legs are made of felt.  I will say, making these tiny dolls was probably as time consuming as larger ones, mainly because there was so much cutting of tiny arms, legs, and ears involved.  I initially dreaded embroidering the faces on, and I even toyed with the idea of using buttons for the eyes instead, but then I got all paranoid about choking, plus I didn't care for how the buttons looked.  I will say though, once I got going on the embroidery, I was surprised to discover how much I enjoyed it!  It's actually making me think about taking up embroidery.  Because, you know, I don't have enough hobbies going on.  Heh.

Anyways, I also decided to make bigger Whimsy dolls for my nieces, E and a few of her closer friends.  A couple of these were ones I actually started last year (had all cut out and everything) and never finished.  Oops.  Yeah, I suck.  But better late than never, right?

Here is a big sister/little sister set:

 

Another "Butterbean" baby doll (these were incredibly fast and easy to make - definitely going to file it away in the back of my mind for a quickie gift)

Bunny dolls

 

And a couple Christmas-themed dolls

 

 

I also made a few gifts for my friends.  I originally had the brilliant idea of making hostess aprons for everyone, but I only got one done before I simply ran out of time.  I do love how this one turned out though. 

And for a few of you reading this, try to act surprised when an apron randomly shows up on your doorstep in the next month or so. ;)

One of my friends had asked me a while back to make her a simple drawstring bag to carry her knitting around in.  I decided to add a matching knitting needle roll as a bonus.

 

 

 

I have to say, I'm quite proud of how many things I managed to make, and all in the span between when we returned from our Thanksgiving trip on Dec. 1, and when we left again on Dec. 18, no less.  But next year, I'm starting in July.

Burn out

I think Halloween totally burned me out on crafting, and maybe blogging too.  It's been forever since I've posted, but believe it or not, I have still been making stuff.  Just been too lazy to edit and upload pics so I could blog.  Plus we were out of town for long stretches over both Thanksgiving AND Christmas/New Year's...and well, you get the picture.  Enough with the excuses, on to the crafts!

Like I mentioned, I haven't been totally idle, but I did take a long break from sewing after making all those costumes.  Instead, I decided to get back into knitting.  A little lower stress, and bonus points for being able to do it on the couch, in front of the TV. ;)  First up, a newborn hat that I made for a friend's new baby boy.  Photo by bernadette uzcategui photography.

 The baby's father loved the hat so much that he requested a matching hat of his own, hee.  So not only did I make one for him, but I also made a headband/headwarmer in the same colorways for the mom.

Next up, a hat for myself!  I took a quick trip to Philadelphia one weekend to visit a friend, and we went to one of my favorite yarn stores there, Nangellini. The owner, Nancy, is so wonderfully friendly (and she even remembered me from my last visit, a year ago!), I highly recommend checking it out if you're ever in the area.  I couldn't resist this yummy Ushya wool yarn and knit up a 'holey' hat, stranded with some Noro yarn for texture.

Of course, I also had to make a newborn hat for my new niece!  I love that this sort of looks like a candy cane.

 

And here she is modeling it at Thanksgiving.  :)  Forgive the blur, this was hastily snapped with my phone.

I also knit up a cocoon to take pictures of her in, but sadly, she was already too big (and active) for it.

 

Another baby hat. This time I experimented with a sort of twisted rib pattern. 

 

I'm not sure if I like how it turned out; I think it sort of looks like a head of lettuce, lol.  It looks slightly better when the bottom edge is turned up a bit.  Apologies for the creepy doll-model.  I don't have quick access to any tiny babies these days. 

 

Since the weather has finally gotten colder, I also knit up a quickie scarf for E.  She picked the yarn herself. I tried to hold back my gag reflex. I used a basic basketweave pattern, K4, P4 for 4 rows and then switch.

 

She got all goofy and uncooperative when I asked her to actually model the darn thing.  Ah, 3-year-olds.

Next up, holiday crafting! :D

Halloween!

Apologies for the extended absence. Again.  October got pretty busy for me, what with Halloween festivities and all.  This year I took on the challenge of making not just a costume for E, but also one for her friend Sofia, and two more for a friend's daughters as well. 

E changed her mind about a half dozen times on what she wanted to be for Halloween, but she finally settled on a ladybug.  I was pretty happy, as I knew it would be fairly simple.  I used Simplicity 1726 for E's costume which was super quick and easy to make.  Outer is fleece, dots are felt, and it also has a silky black polyester lining.  I ended up whipping up a matching costume for her doll, as well.  Hee!

E's friend, Sofia, wanted to be a cow.  I made this jumpsuit from the same Simplicity pattern, substituting a velboa cow print for the fleecy lamb fabric.  Again, fairly straightforward to make, especially since it used velcro for the back closure.  I did sub ribbed fabric for the neck and sleeve bands, and I left the elastic off the bottom of the legs as well.

 

Here they are together at their school's Trunk or Treat event.  I had a bit of trouble with the hood, which turned out WAY too small, despite making it exactly according to their instructions.  Have I mentioned before that Simplicity's instructions tend to suck?  I ended up adding a flap to the bottom so that it would be long enough, and just leaving it open in front.

The other two costumes were for a photographer friend of mine whose kids were doing a Wizard of Oz theme.  First up is her oldest daughter as Dorothy. Isn't she too adorable?!  It's loosely based off of McCalls 4948, but rather than have a fake bib attached to a dress bodice, I made it an apron-style dress that tied in back, and she put a simple white shirt underneath.

Her little sister was Glinda, the Good Witch.  This was made from the same McCall's pattern and was by far the most challenging costume of the four. It's hard to see in this picture, but the skirt and sleeves have a layer of sheer sparkly fabric overlayed on the pink satin.  This was my first time working with costume satin, and I must say, I am really NOT a fan.  If it weren't for my serger, I'm not sure if it would have been possible for me to make this costume at all!  The longer I worked with it, the more it shredded and fell apart. :P  But, I got it done with my insanity mostly intact and was pretty dang proud of myself.  I do love a good challenge. ;)

 

And here's the whole gang, minus one lion. ;)
 

Of course, now that E has figured out that I can make things, she's started making requests.  The day before her school event, she asked me for a matching bag to go with her costume.  I've long admired the cute round ones from Pottery Barn Kids, and being a tad masochistic, I decided to try and replicate the shape for E's treat bag.  I made one from scrap first, just to get the shape right, and then used red felt for the outer and black polyester for the lining.  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and I'm thinking I may take orders on custom ones next year, now that I have a pattern drafted.

Baby stuff

I miss having a little baby to sew for.  Although to be technical, I only started sewing after E was born and I didn't really tackle clothing or anything big until she was well into the toddler stage.  So I get really excited when I have an excuse to sew for little ones.  In the last year or so, there's been a bit of a baby boom amongst my friends, so I've been doing my best to sew little gifties when I've had time.  

First up is a cute owl jumper for a good friend's daughter's first birthday!  This is the same friend that I threw the birdie baby shower for, so when I saw this owl corduroy at Jo-Ann, I knew she would love it.  It's from an Ottobre pattern.

 

Here it is, on the birthday girl.  A little big, but still super cute. 

Next up is a baby shower gift for another friend who is due at the end of October.  I've been meaning to try out the Itty Bitty Baby Dress pattern from Made by Rae, and this was the perfect opportunity.  My friend's older daughter also recently had a birthday, so I also used the enlarged pattern to make a matching dress for a belated birthday gift for her!

 

These were really fun and easy to make.  I can see myself making a bunch more, especially since I have a baby niece arriving soon!  The smallest size of the newborn dress also fits E's doll rather nicely, so I'll probably be making one for her as well. ;)

Last, but not least, is a shopping cart cover that a friend commissioned for her little boy.  I'd never made one before, so this was a bit of a challenge, which I love.  I tried looking at some ready-made patterns, but most were fussier and/or more complicated than what I wanted, so in the end, I came up with my own, which was pretty much just a large rectangle with elastic and holes.

 

I used quilting cotton for the top and a bottomweight cotton twill for the bottom so that it would hold up to wear & tear.  I used two layers of batting, plus a layer of fleece for the padding, then I layered everything and serged the edges all together.  I turned down about 4" on the front and back to create pockets to hold it in place.  I added elastic to the front pocket to make it a bit more snug around the cart handle, but left the back as is.  I used bias tape to cover the raw edges on the sides, as well as the leg hole in the middle, and I made large buttonholes and threaded them with nylon webbing for the safety belt.

I do wish that the elastic I used had cinched the front part up a bit tighter, but other than that I think it turned out rather well.  I also ended up whipping up a quickie storage bag from some of the leftover twill.

Costumes

My friend Heather asked me to make some more costume pieces for her fall show, Little Women.  At first she wanted me to make 5 or 6 corsets, but after doing some research on them, I realized that those might be beyond my skill level - or at least that many in the time frame given would be - and bust her budget as well.  Anyways instead, I sewed up a bunch of old-timey pantaloons/drawers/bloomers or whatever you want to call them. 

 

I used Simplicity "Historical" pattern 9769, but realized after I started sewing that historical meant that they were wide open in the crotch, pretty much from front to back.  So I had to make a few alterations, which on the one hand, made them quicker to sew, but on the other hand, gave them less flexibility in the waist.  Lucky for me, the girls can to shimmy into them and once on, they won't have to change out of them during the show.  Here are a couple of the girls, modeling them.  (Sorry for the extreme blur, it was dark and I didn't realize how out-of-focus it was till I got home.)

 

 

I also made some old-timey aprons for the girls to wear over their dresses.  Again, sorry for the crappiness of the pics, but I was in a mad rush to get them done and delivered so I only had a quick minute to snap a couple pictures.  I'm hoping for better ones from the actual show.

 

Here's a better shot of my favorite one, which I added a cute little ruffle to on the sides.

 

I have to say, despite the tight deadlines, making this stuff is actually pretty fun.  I really enjoy the challenge of making things that I would otherwise never make in a million years, and because they're for the stage, they don't have to be super perfect since no one will be really up close to see mistakes. ;)  Also thank god for my serger - it would easily take me twice as long to sew these up without it since I'd have to turn and topstitch all the raw edges.

Oops, almost forgot. I also whipped up a bunch of little drawstring purses for the show too.  Two are in a fancy brocade, the rest are from leftover scraps from the aprons or other fabric I had laying around.  These were made in the most generic way possible - serged together and then a piece of scrap sewn to the inside to make a casing for the drawstring.  Again, lucky for me they don't have to look nice up close, just from far away. 

Stash game!

About 3 years ago, I joined a sewing message board, but I visited it very infrequently.  At the time, I was just beginning to sew and it was a bit overwhelming.  But my friend Jacki is a regular there and always talked about this game they do, where the goal is to reduce your fabric stash and NOT buy new fabric.  Since my fabric hoarding has been getting a bit out of hand lately, I figured it'd be good motivation to finally make all the projects I've been planning. 

Basically, the rules are that starting on September 1st, you get points per yard for anything you sew and lose points for fabric that you buy.  Anything you bought or ordered before the 1st counts as part of your current "stash," but you can't actually start cutting fabric for the item until then either.  So anything you started before the 1st counts as an "Unfinished Object."  I spent the entire week beforehand planning and tracing patterns that I wanted to use.  I also might have gone on a fabric-buying spree.  I know, defeats the purpose of reducing the stash, but I couldn't help myself.

Anyways, here are the first few batches of things I made.  Nothing major yet, but I knew I'd have more costumes to make, so I wanted to start off slow.

First up, a Halloween skirt for E!  She's been very into twirling lately, so I wanted to make her a nice, full twirly skirt.  I used the PortabelloPixie Gracie pattern for this, but either I cut it wrong or there's something wonky with it because the top tier and the waistband didn't seem to match up quite right.

Here she is, giving it a test twirl. I think it met with her approval.  :)

 

I also whipped up an absolute TON of key fobs to sell and give as gifts.  These are actually pretty fast and fun to make.  I enlisted T to put the rings on so we had a little assembly line going.  This is actually only about half of them.

 

Last, and sort of least, I made a quick little placemat for E to use at school.  Nothing really fancy, just two rectangles (and interfacing) that I sewed right sides together, then turned and top-stitched. I used the same fabrics as on her nap mat, and I also added a piece of elastic to hold it closed when rolled up.

More to come...